Literature

Contemporary

Henry Purcell, ‘The Art of Descant’, in John
Playford, An Introduction to the Skill of Musick (Henry
Playford, London, twelfth edition (the first credited to
Purcell: 1694)

As has been noted elsewhere, no contemporary text mentions
Purcell's fantasias, but glimpses of the composer’s
approach to polyphony can be seen in his contribution to this
introduction to composing polyphony. The original text having
been adapted by John Playford in 196? from a 161? treatise by
Thomas Campion, the book had several substantial alterations
made between editions. The largest of these are between the
ninth edition (1679) and the tenth (1683) where the Art of
Descant section is rewritten to give more of a basis in
dissonance resolution, and between this and the eleventh
edition, which is the edition credited to Purcell, and which
devotes more time to conterpoint and less to homophonic
part-writing. The relationships between this text and the
compositional principles underlying the fantasias are explored
in Howard (2007). A reasonably complete transcription of this
edition may be found
here. Errata for this transcription and additional
music examples will soon be placed on our website.

Modern

Joseph Warren, ‘Memoirs of the Composers’, in
William Boyce (J Warren, ed), Cathedral music, being a
Collection in score of the most valuable and useful
compositions for that service by the early English Masters
Vol II (London, 1849), pp. 1-19

Includes a biographical sketch of Purcell, some of whose
music features in Boyce’s collection. Although the
sketch is only eight pages long, a quarter of it is devoted to
Add 30,930, then in the posession of the editor, who notes
"The whole of these Fantasias have not hitherto been noticed
in any Biographical account of Henry Purcell". He also
usefully gives information about the folio order, provenance
and binding prior to the rebinding and reordering that we see
now. Thompson (1995) first notes this text.

These two articles provide thematic analyses of the G minor
fantasia in four parts and draws comparisons with
Fauré’s late quartets. Included in the article is
31 bars of musical example, with different phrasing and
performance markings to the Warlock/Mangeot
edition. Purcell’s affinity with and relevance for
modern music is stressed and, when compared with Haydn, he is
declared to reveal a ‘more modern nature’.

A discussion grounded on the sonatas and fantasias
‘for the simple reason that I am on holiday in a remote
place, and have with me only the second set of Sonatas...and
the String Fantasias’. He concludes that Purcell‘s
style is ’peculiarly English and strangely
insular’. Some of his more detailed analysis appears to
be based on the (incorrect) assumption that the sonatas
published in 1697 are late work.

Comprehensive study guide and bibliography (unfortunately
published six years before the tercentenary, and thus in need
of updating).

Peter Holman, Henry Purcell (Oxford University Press,
Oxford, 1994)

Music and source-oriented discussion. Considers compositional
models and inspirations for the pieces, partly based on his belief
that the reason for such an anachronistic set of pieces is
probably that ‘Purcell wrote his fantasias more as
composition exercises than as material for performance’

Martin Adams, Henry Purcell: the origins and development on
his musical style (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,
1995)

Analytical approach to the music, focussing primarily on
motivic analyses. Chapter six is devoted to the early instrumental
music, primarily the fantasias and sonatas

More information on concordances. Ultimately this article
and the one from Purcell studies are expanded for Shay &
Thompson (below)

Peter Holman, ‘Henry Purcell and Joseph Gibbs: A new
source of the three-part fantasias Z732 and Z734’,
in Chelys 25 (1997), pp. 97-100.

Discusses a source containing an eighteenth-century keyboard
score of two fantasias, one labelled as a fugue.

David Pinto, ‘Purcell’s In Nomines: A tale of
two manuscripts (perhaps three)’, in Chelys 25
(1997), pp. 101-106.

Robert Shay and Robert Thompson, Purcell Manuscripts: The
Principal Musical Sources (Canbridge University Press,
Cambridge, 200)

Alan Howard, Purcell and the Poetics of Artifice:
Compositional Strategies in the Fantasias and Sonatas, Phd
Thesis (University of London, August 2006)

This thesis, by on of the consultants for Purcell Plus,
discusses the Purcell’s approach to counterpoint in
terms of both the music and contemporary writings including
Purcell’s own contributions to ‘The Art of
Discant’ (see above). Also
relevant is a discussion of the nationalist reception of
Purcell and his music.

Scores

The first public issue of this music. Excludes the In
Nomines, and involves some (silent) rearrangement for
performance by string quartet. Although Warlock is credited as
transcriber, Mangeot repeatedly refers to consulting the
manuscript at the British Museum, and the division of labour
between the two is never made clear.

Surprisingly, perhaps, this is much more academic than the
Warlock/Mangeot edition, with a score that keeps very close to
the text, adding little except translations of Purcell’s
tempo markings. This is the first publication to include the In
Nomines.

Group review including recordings by Fretwork, Phantasm,
Rose Consort, Savall and London Baroque.

Miscellaneous cuttings from reviews of the Phantasm recording
can be
found here

Performances

Reviews or, more often, simple descriptions or listings of
early concert performances of the fantasias can be found in the
‘Concerts in London’, ‘Music in the
Provinces’ and ‘Music Abroad’ sections of the
Musical Times. Relevant entries include: